


An Evening Out

by Musetotheworld



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fills [6]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Cat overreacts and has a problematic reaction, F/F, Tumblr Prompt, but then she makes up for it and fixes her mistake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 09:39:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9433322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musetotheworld/pseuds/Musetotheworld
Summary: Cat's been out of town exploring her options when a picture of Supergirl and Lena Luthor grabs her attention and draws her back across the country. But is it a problem or an opportunity?





	

**Author's Note:**

> "I'm really craving a domestic Supercat + anyone else, poly. Literally anyone else. From Adam to Lena, even a character from another show or an O.C.. Your pick. Just... I really need some poly that isn't just porn or smutty."
> 
> I’m not entirely happy with it (after putting so much into my poly PP fic this one seems lacking in comparison) but here it is! I hope it isn’t completely off base with what you want, and I’m willing to add short bits on if you or anyone else has specific prompts in the verse (they’ll be added to the end of the line with any others so don’t expect them right away), but it’s what I’ve got right now.
> 
> Just a note because I 100% don’t want to offend anyone, Kara’s version of polyamory in this is very specific due entirely to her cultural background, and while I try to stress that she’s aware and accepting of the fact humans have multiple forms, this is the one she’s comfortable with for herself based on what she grew up around.

“You know, when I left to find new adventures, it was with the understanding that things between us weren’t going to change.”

 

The voice is pointed, nearly deadly in how sharp it is, but Kara can clearly hear the hurt beneath the words, and looks up with a frown.

  
“And nothing has,” she says earnestly, standing from behind her desk when she sees Cat in the doorway of her office. She hadn’t expected to see her girlfriend before their scheduled date in New York tomorrow evening. “I didn’t know you were coming back, is everything okay? Is Carter okay?”

  
“Carter is fine; the trip with his father is going well this time.” Cat doesn’t answer the rest of Kara’s question as she enters the room, closing the door behind her.

That’s enough to tip Kara off that whatever is happening here is serious, from the very beginning of their relationship Cat has preferred to avoid any personal conversations at work, reluctant to give the other employees any reason to question Kara’s skill and dedication to her job. Even now when Cat stops in on her frequent visits home, the time she spends at CatCo is limited.

  
“What’s wrong then,” Kara asks as she takes Cat’s hand and tugs her gently towards the couch she’d placed in the small side alcove of the room. “Talk to me, please?”

  
“Did you check the front page of the Tribune this morning?” Cat asks, taking a seat almost reluctantly, a careful distance between them that Kara longs to eliminate. She doesn’t yet though, easily sensing Cat’s emotional turmoil and need for that very separation right now.

  
“No, I was almost late for work after an early morning save,” Kara admits, wondering what that has to do with anything.

  
“So you didn’t see the massive picture on the front page, the one of you staring deeply into a certain Luthor’s eyes?” Cat says, hurt and anger dripping from every word as Kara just gapes at her. “Really Kara, I know the distance hasn’t been easy, but to move on without even telling me? I expected more from you.”

  
“I would never cheat on you, Cat,” Kara protests as soon as she can find words, reaching for her phone to look at whatever picture is causing this. “You know that. I love you. And yes you being gone so often has been tough, but that doesn’t mean anything has changed.”

  
The picture that pulls up on Kara’s phone is more damning than she would have thought, and without context Kara understands exactly why Cat would have flown across the country upon seeing it. She is staring deeply into Lena’s eyes, hands on her shoulders. It appears far more intimate than it was, but there’s no way any reporter could have known Kara was using her x-ray vision to scan for injury from the various impacts sustained before the alien had been defeated.

  
“You told me once that Kryptonians believed in and accepted relationships involving more than two people,” Cat says quietly, reaching out a hand to take Kara’s in a soft grasp. “And I’m afraid that with my being gone all the time, you’ll turn to her instead of me.”

  
“I’m not going to say I don’t find Lena attractive,” Kara says as she puts her phone down and turns to face Cat completely, knowing that she has to choose her words and explanations carefully. “But you are the woman I am with right now. And that means I will never do anything to hurt you. Whether I even could fall in love with Lena or not, what you want means more to me right now, because I want to be with you.”

  
“Well now you make me feel as if I’m holding you back from something,” Cat says with a weak attempt at a laugh, and Kara knows she hasn’t succeeded, not the way she wanted to.

  
“You’re not,” Kara says firmly, leaning in to close the distance between them with a soft kiss, grateful when Cat doesn’t hesitate at all. “I’m happy with you being the only person in my life.”

  
“Would you be happier with both of us?” Cat asks quietly as she leans into Kara’s side, allowing herself the closeness she’d denied earlier. “Because if you are, I won’t stop you. It may take some getting used to, but it’s a part of your life that I won’t try to fight.”

  
“Happier wouldn’t be the right word,” Kara tries to explain, wishing she had the right words for the situation. Kryptonian marriages and relationships are difficult to explain to humans at the best of times, and with Cat leaning against her, still clearly hurt, Kara doesn’t know how this is supposed to work. “Cat, I could never be with Lena if you weren’t involved. I know that’s how things work for some relationships here, but that isn’t how Kryptonians are built. I love you, and in order for me to love Lena you would have to as well. It would have to be the three of us together. So you aren’t holding me back, or stopping me from having anything. I already have you.”

  
Kara can tell Cat has understood when the tension leaves her small frame, letting her relax into Kara’s hold. It makes Kara tighten her grip just slightly, careful to avoid too much pressure, but wanting Cat to know that this is what she wants. That this right here is enough.

  
“I think we’ll need to reschedule our dinner in New York,” Cat says when she pulls back, confident bearing once again in place. “I’ll take care of it, but I think I’m going to stick around National City at least a little while longer.”

  
“Can I come over tonight then?” Kara asks, not wanting to assume, even though she’s had a standing welcome for months now.

  
“Six sharp. Don’t be late.”

  
X

  
Cat does indeed take care of scheduling their dinner for the next night, reserving a table at one of Kara’s favorite restaurants, where the food is good and the portions are large enough that she doesn’t leave still starving. The staff is also very discreet, meaning even with the fact that the media has been interested in their relationship since they’d gone public their evening won’t be interrupted by camera flashes or end up in a gossip column the next day.

  
Tonight Kara is surprised when the host leads them towards one of the back rooms, knowing that Cat usually prefers one of the corner booths with a view over the bay. The private rooms are well appointed, but the lack of windows makes both Cat and Kara uncomfortable at times. Both, though they usually deny it fiercely, are the slightest bit claustrophobic and tend to avoid rooms without windows if possible. It’s one reason Kara’s office door is so rarely closed.

  
When the door opens to reveal Lena sitting at the table waiting for them, Kara begins to understand. And while she wishes Cat had warned her before they’d arrived, Kara has to admit that if she’d known what was coming she probably wouldn’t have been able to enter the restaurant at all.

  
“Cat, Kara, how lovely of you to invite me,” Lena says as they take their seats, a small but pleasant smile on her face. “I’ll admit, I wouldn’t have expected you to spend your limited time together having dinner with me.”

  
“Yes, well, I know that you and Kara have become close over the course of my travels,” Cat says as she picks up with wine menu, voice giving nothing away.

  
“And you invited me to dinner to warn me off? I must say, I would have expected something more memorable,” Lena says, smile not fading in the slightest as she looks at them.

  
Kara debates jumping in, but a quick glance between the other two women quickly has her deciding against that option. She isn’t sure exactly what Cat’s end game is here, and risking upsetting either her friend or her girlfriend sounds like a bad idea.

  
“If that was my goal, then I probably would have,” Cat says with a smile of her own, seeming completely relaxed despite the slowly growing tension in the room. “But I trust Kara, and what I know of you makes me inclined to trust you as well. You’re an interesting woman, Lena.”

  
“I do try to be, though I doubt I could measure up to your life,” Lena says, and Kara breathes a sigh of relief as things seem to relax. “So if not to warn me off, may I ask the point of dinner tonight? It’s not often that someone seeks out my company, especially not someone so firmly aligned with one of the Supers.”

  
A quick glance at Kara and a nod in return when she understands what Cat is asking is all it takes for a message to be passed between the two, and Cat sits back in her chair as Kara carefully checks the room around them for any sign that someone could be listening in. When she sees nothing, even when extending her senses to the rest of the restaurant and a little beyond, she nods at Cat once more. She’d debated telling Lena the truth before this anyway, but had always held back out of habit if nothing else. But Cat apparently trusts her, and if the conversation is going where Kara thinks it is, then this is one secret that will need told sooner rather than later.

  
“Well, it’s that particular relationship I wanted to discuss tonight,” Cat says, pausing for a moment when Kara reaches out a hand to stop her when their waiter enters to pour the wine and take their orders. “You know that CatCo has been linked to Supergirl from the very beginning, but the relationship goes back further than that.”

  
“Do tell,” Lena says as she sips her wine, looking between the two of them with clear interest written on her face. “I wouldn’t have guessed that from the way CatCo covered her first attempts at heroism.”

  
“The criticisms were fair and well deserved,” Kara jumps in, blushing a little as she remembers how badly she’d screwed up at the beginning. And really, this ought to be her reveal anyway. “If not for Cat’s critiques, who knows how things would have turned out. I know that having someone push me to be greater was something I sorely needed.”

  
“Wait, what are you saying?” Lena asks as Kara’s words sink in, and with a deep breath Kara takes off her glasses, feeling Cat lay a comforting hand on her thigh beneath the table. “Oh my god.”

  
“Surprise,” Kara says with a weak laugh, almost afraid to look up and meet Lena’s eyes.

  
“I may not have come here tonight to warn you off, Lena, but I trust that I don’t need to warn you that if you expose Kara’s secret I will tear you to shreds?” Cat asks, shaking both Kara and Lena out of the tense standoff.

  
“Kara is a friend, of course I wouldn’t betray her trust that way,” Lena says, clearly offended by the very thought.

  
“Then we won’t have a problem,” Cat says with a sweetly dangerous smile, and Kara is grateful when their appetizers appear before the tension starts to climb again. Between fumbling to put her glasses back on and the welcome addition of food to the night, the danger seems to have passed for now.

  
“I admit I’m still curious why I’m here,” Lena says as they finish their food, and Cat shakes her head warningly while Kara does another quick scan to ensure no one is near enough to overhear.

  
“I would have preferred to have this conversation somewhere more private, but I thought neutral ground was better,” Cat explains when Kara once again gives the all clear. “Given the limitations of the room, waiting for Kara’s okay is the only way to be sure we have what privacy is available.”

  
“My apologies,” Lena says smoothly, and Kara decides to take the lead before the two powerful women start to clash. She’s more certain than ever now that she understands what Cat is doing tonight, and the last thing she needs is for a misunderstanding to make the whole thing backfire.

  
“It’s understandable, you didn’t know,” Kara cuts in before Cat can say another word, shooting her girlfriend a look and receiving a nod in return. “But you’re right, there is a reason Cat invited you. She saw the picture of us yesterday morning and flew back to confront me about it.”

  
“I thought you said this wasn’t about warning me off.” The confusion is back, and Kara wishes for a long moment that this was as easy as it had been on Krypton. Things were far more ritualized and there was far less in the way of emotional reasoning behind the bonds, but at least there wasn’t this awkward stumbling for words and explanations.

  
“It’s about asking if you’re actually interested,” Cat says bluntly when Kara stumbles over her words, causing Lena and Kara to both look at her in shock. “Oh, don’t give me those looks, there isn’t any good way to ask and this way we have the main course to sit awkwardly before actually discussing it over dessert.”

  
“Unless Lena is about to storm out in shock,” Kara points out, taking a large gulp of her water.

  
“Shock yes, storming out no,” Lena says, sitting back in her chair as she looks between the couple. “I’ll admit it wasn’t what I expected from tonight.”

  
“And that still isn’t an answer to the question,” Cat points out.

  
“The point has always been moot in the past, I haven’t given it much thought,” Lena says, her voice not giving much away as she scrutinizes them carefully. “I wouldn’t go after someone in a relationship. But yes, Cat, as I’m sure you can agree, Kara is a very intriguing woman who has a tendency to capture interest. So what exactly are you getting at here?”

  
Cat smirks as if happy to have found someone who understands her, and suddenly Kara thinks that this could actually work. She hadn’t quite been able to picture the two having feelings for each other, they’re both so strong willed that Kara would have pictured them clashing more than anything else, but now she can see at least the possibility of a connection between them.

  
“Kara’s particular background means relationships involving more than two people are as normal to her as those involving only two,” Cat begins, and Lena’s eyes narrow as she begins to understand. “When I saw the picture of you two, I admit to overreacting and assuming the worst, which was unfair of me. But the point remains that the interest was there, and I’m not opposed to the possibility of exploring it.”

  
“What Cat is trying to ask, is whether you’d be interesting in dating us, both of us,” Kara cuts in to explain, wanting it out there in plain words. Now that she knows what Cat had planned for the night, rather than just guessing, she’s more than willing to step up and take a more active part in asking, knowing she isn’t overstepping what Cat is comfortable with.

  
“Both of you, huh?” Lena asks, smirking when they nod, Kara’s hand keeping Cat quiet while Lena thinks. “Sounds like an offer only a fool would turn down.”

  
X

  
“Can you believe it’s already been a year?” Kara asks as she crawls into bed, unsurprised when Cat and Lena both curl into her side without hesitation. “I mean, our anniversary is in three days, but it seems like only yesterday Cat was ambushing us at dinner.”

  
“I can’t believe she didn’t warn you beforehand,” Lena laughs, still as amused by that fact as she’d been when she found out.

  
“If I had she’d have run for the hills. I knew that after I’d brought it up the day before she’d understand once she saw you, and when we sat down I asked to make sure it was okay.”

  
“Except you didn’t actually say anything,” Kara points out, even knowing she’ll already lose this battle. It’s not the first time, after all.

  
“And yet you still understood me just fine.” And there it is, the same argument Cat brings up every time, the one Kara can’t argue with.

  
“I’m just glad you asked at all,” Lena murmurs as she leans up over Kara to give Cat a soft kiss, placing one on Kara’s waiting lips as she shifts back into her side. “You surprised me, but I’m glad you did.”

  
“And we’re glad you accepted,” Kara says with a smile, pulling both of her lovers a little closer into her side, thinking back over the last year they’ve all been together, and forward to the many more to come.


End file.
